As Long Beach drunk driving criminal defense lawyers, we were interested to see a report about a celebrity's DUI sentencing. Faith Evans pleaded no contest to misdemeanor DUI charges stemming from a stop at a DUI roadblock in Los Angeles earlier this year. Evans is a Grammy award-winning singer who is also famous as the widow of The Notorious B.I.G., Christopher Wallace, whose murder is still unsolved. Evans has no previous DUI record, but does have a drug possession arrest from 2004, when she and her more recent husband, a record company executive, were stopped in Atlanta and found with marijuana and cocaine. That prosecution ended when both successfully completed drug treatment in lieu of other penalties.
According to television station KTLA, Evans was stopped at a drunk driving checkpoint in the Marina del Rey section of Los Angeles, on the night of on Aug. 21, 2010. The report did not say how she was stopped or what her blood-alcohol concentration was, but the stop led to her arrest on misdemeanor DUI charges. Her car was impounded and she was held by police until the following morning. In December, Evans pleaded no contest to the charges, suggesting that she did not believe she could fight them. The judge in her case sentenced her to three years of probation, during which she will not be permitted to drive with any measurable amount of alcohol in her blood, including amounts below the legal limit. She will also pay a $300 fine and take three months of alcohol education classes.
Even though this is a high-profile case involving a celebrity, this sentence is not at all unusual in the experience of our Azusa DUI criminal defense attorneys. For a first offender who did not get into any accident, probation is typical. However, it would be interesting to know more of the circumstances surrounding her arrest, because some of them could change how the case could best be defended. Despite the Fifth Amendment's protections against unreasonable search and seizure, courts have decided that it is legal to pull drivers over randomly at a DUI checkpoint. However, that doesn't mean that police officers have the freedom to violate any other civil rights. Drivers can sometimes get a drunk driving charge dismissed based on those violations, or reduce the charges substantially, making police conduct an important part of any case.
Howard Law, P.C. represents Californians who are ready to fight serious drunk driving charges against them. Here in Orange County and in most of our state, it's very difficult to live your life without a driver's license -- which is exactly why the state takes away driver's licenses from DUI offenders. This gets attention, but it can also cause serious problems for people who need their licenses to get to work or school, find a job or meet other basic obligations. Our Laguna Niguel intoxicated driving criminal defense lawyers can fight the license revocation, but we have to start very early -- which is why it's important for people accused of DUI to call us right away. By requesting an administrative hearing, a separate proceeding from the DUI court case, drivers can delay, fight and sometimes reverse the license suspension.
If you're accused of driving drunk in California, don't wait before you call Howard Law, P.C. for help. To learn more or set up a free, confidential evaluation of your case, send us a message online or call 1-800-872-5925 toll-free today.
